Naruto Anti Tank Ninja
by Fat-Man-pirates
Summary: War is changing, machines appear on the battlefield, and everone is rushing for a counter. Naruto is made into that counter.


**So, hey, what's up. Its the fat man again. I decided to come back, and try my hand at this again, to see where it goes. This is essentially an overhaul of my first story, but it's more in scope now. I lost focus on the last one, and started branching off in ways I couldn't write, so now I'll start again, and write the story the way it was supposed to be.**

**So please, enjoy.**

Naruto: 901 ATN

You know, there aren't many moments in your life when you can look back and say without a doubt in your mind, "I wouldn't have done this any other way." If you could experience moments like that even once every year you should consider yourself lucky, because many people don't have moments like these too often.

Naruto was not having one of these moments. Currently he was sneaking into the Hokage Tower, the Big Government Building, the White House of Konoha. Naruto had failed the genin exam for the third time, and was now basically forced to infiltrate this fortress to retrieve a scroll that his instructor Mizuki wanted him to retrieve.

And this is where the Epic begins.

But wait, I haven't described the protagonist of this tale. I'm sure you all know by now that his name is Naruto, and as such, you all have preconceived notions on how he should look.

Let's shatter the mirror of reality shall we?

Naruto is a boy of 13, but you wouldn't guess it by looking at him. Years of living on his own have hardened him into a boy of great strength and stature. Regular hunts for protein and the abundance of green leaf vegetables in the forest have allowed this boy to grow more than his peers, who eat processed foods and less nutritious foods. The result being that Naruto stands at a good 5'7", and still has plenty of growing to do. He has blonde, spikey hair that couldn't be tamed if he tried. He's currently wearing his "hunting clothes", cargo pants in dark gray as well as a jacket in the same color, with a hint of orange peeking out from under the jacket, as it wasn't zipped all the way.

So now that we've established what the character looks like, we can move on yeah?

Naruto was not enjoying life right now. He failed, again, and was now infiltrating the office of one of the only people to ever show him affection, just so he could become a ninja.

"_nothing is going to stand in my way anymore_" he thought angrily.

After failing for the third time, he had finally began to feel the rage of defeat, and he nearly jumped at the chance to become a ninja when it was offered to him. Mizuki's make up exam was a gift from god, a chance to be a ninja, and all he had to do...

...was infiltrate the most secure building in the village. "huh" Naruto said quietly, " maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Your only thinking this now?" a voice said in his ear. Ah that's right, he had nearly forgotten about the other person he brought on this little escapade.

Shikamaru Nara was perhaps the laziest boy Naruto had ever met. He was Naruto's age, he often wore muted colors with a mesh under shirt, and his hair was in a spikey ponytail. He was also Naruto's best friend. They met first year in the Academy, and the instructors, who at the time hated Naruto, had sent Naruto to the back of the class, where Shikamaru had chosen to sit for the rest of his four years. At first, they ignored each other, or at least, Shikamaru ignored Naruto, as all he wanted to do was sleep, while Naruto wanted to talk and ask him for help. Eventually Shikamaru warmed up to the blonde, and ever since they have been as thick as thieves.

Shikamaru, besides being incredibly lazy, was also one of the most brilliant people Naruto knew, and he hung out with the Hokage. Able to analyze and solve complex problems, Shikamaru originally got Naruto's attention by routinely scoring high in strategic planning, where Naruto was having trouble. And so Shikamaru began teaching Naruto, mentoring him in Shogi and Go, to help improve his strategic skills.

So far, brute force is still Naruto's preferred method.

The only reason Shikamaru was here at all was because he had overheard Mizuki giving Naruto the instructions to raid the Hokage Tower. He immediately knew something was off. Naruto didn't want to believe that something was wrong, and so Shikamaru decided he would provide over watch for his best friend.

He was currently lying on the roof of a building which had the best view of the Hokage Towers windows. From that position, he could see most of the security checkpoints, as well as any potential threats in the halls. He had a radio in his hand, and was giving Naruto instructions through his ear piece.

"It's not too late you know," Shikamaru said quietly "if you turn back now, no one will blame you, and you could try again next year."

"I can't," Naruto replied, a hint of anger in his voice "I'm tired of waiting, and I'm tired of failing, so I'm going to do this, and prove to everyone that I can."

"...Fine." sighed Shikamaru. " wait where you are for five more seconds. There's a secretary entering the break room." and true enough, there was a rather attractive woman walking toward the break room. Naruto crouched low into the shadows, stilling his breathing until he heard the door to the break room close.

"Your clear. Check your corners and move up." Came Shikamaru's voice over the headset.

"Copy that" And Naruto began to move up, running silently through the corridor, until he reached the door to the emergency stairwell. Normally, this stairwell would be locked and alarmed, but as is the case with most buildings with a large number of employees, the exit was unlocked and the alarm disabled, to give employees and ninja a place to smoke during their shifts.

The smell of tobacco fresh in his nostrils, Naruto pulled out a small mirror, and carefully aimed it so he could see up the stairs. It was clear. Hardly believing his luck, he quietly made his way up the concrete stairs, to the third floor down from the top, where the Hokages office was located.

"I'm on the floor," Naruto whispered into his mic, "Anything I should know? Or can I open the door?"

"Stand by" Shikamaru responded. " It looks clear. Open the door a crack and listen closely. I don't like the fact we haven't seen the ANBU yet."

Ah yes the ANBU. An elite ninja force dedicated to the Hokage that made up his personal guard. Normally they would be seen patrolling the halls every now and again, checking Ids and searching folders for espionage.

" _It's strange_," Shikamaru thought while watching Naruto run towards the office "_they always have at least one ANBU visible at all times as a warning. Why haven't we seen one unless..._" Shikamaru's eyes widened in fear

"... They know we're coming!" he said out loud " Naruto Abort, the Hokage knows were here!"

Silence was all that greeted him, and Shikamaru knew he was right. The ANBU blocked the signal close to the office. All he could do now was wait for Naruto to respond or for the ANBU to pick him up.

* * *

Naruto ran down the hall, moving silently past locked offices and doors, until he reached the oak front doors of the Hokages office. He carefully reached out and jiggled the door handle, and was immediately surprised it was unlocked. Warily, Naruto entered the room, moving quickly but surely, to the cabinet where he knew the Hokage kept classified documents.

"Looking for something Naruto?" an aged voice rang out from behind him. In a panic Naruto whirled around, a kunai ready in his fist. The Hokage stood before him, as well as Ibiki Morino, head of the Torture and Interrogation Division.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, better known as the Third Hokage, was an elderly man in his late sixties or early seventies, which only proves how great a ninja he was. A survivor of two wars, he brought fear to the enemy rarely seen in today's world. Even at his current age he rivals if not surpasses most of his peers.

Ibiki was a man of large stature, one of the tallest in the village. He had a scarred face, barely showing emotion aside from a slight frown, a face that inspired fear when combined with his many scars. Naruto knew of Ibiki, as he was often seen talking with the Hokage whenever Naruto had come to visit, and despite his appearance, he always had a small smile for the blonde.

But now, there was no smile on his face. Only that frown, and now Naruto understood why he was so feared.

" You know, better men than you have tried to break into this office, all have failed." elderly ninja continued. "Ibiki almost always gets one or two offenders every month, most are petty thieves, but every once in a while, they attempt what your attempting." the Hokage slowly walked behind his desk, where a large box was sitting. He didn't look angry, on the contrary, he actually looked rather amused. His voice wasn't even angry, just impartial.

"fortunately for you, I knew what Mizuki asked of you, and I know your friend Shikamaru is outside anxiously waiting for you to emerge. So what do we do with you?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto fidgeted nervously under his gaze, dropping his kunai in shame.

"It's actually rather lucky that you broke into my office," said the Hokage kindly "I actually wanted to discuss your future with you, seeing as you failed the Exams again."

Now Naruto felt a little more anger. People kept bringing up the fact that he failed.

"So I guess I failed the make up exam then?" asked Naruto, glaring slightly at the older man.

"there was no make up exam Naruto." replied the Hokage evenly "Mizuki attempted to use you to steal important secrets from the village and blame you. We're just lucky my ANBU were able to catch wind of this plot before you began this rather well done operation of yours. But that doesn't mean you can't still be a ninja of the village Naruto." now the Hokage looked a little hesitant. He slowly opened the box on his desk. Because of the angle of the boxes lid, Naruto could not see inside.

"I know you have skill Naruto, I have had ninja watch your training regimen. I know how strong you are and how far you are willing to go to achieve your goals." the Hokage continued, staring at the contents of the box.

"we also know that you are loyal to this village to a fault." Ibiki broke in now, speaking for the first time. "as well as your loyalty to the Hokage. It is because of these traits that we are asking what we are."

"And what exactly are you asking me?" asked Naruto quietly. This was beyond anything he had imagined when he thought up the plan to raid the tower.

"Naruto, we want to turn you into a new type of ninja." the Hokage said slowly. "times are changing my boy, and it's time we adapted." at this, the Hokage reached into the box, and retrieved several photographs. He laid them out on the desk and gestured Naruto closer.

"do you know what these are Naruto?" Honestly Naruto had no idea what these objects in the photos were. They looked vaguely similar to carriages, having wheels and a chassis, but that was where the similarity ended. Each of these objects were covered in armor, steel if the riveting was any indication. They had anywhere from six to ten wheels, all supporting a tractor tread that was also made of metal. They had a turret on top of the frame, with what appeared to be kunai launchers attached, as well and a senbon sprayer closer to the front of the machine. Each of the machines varied in design, but there was one thing in common. The village symbol on the side of the vehicle. It was the symbol of Iwa, a rivaling ninja village.

"what are these things?" asked Naruto with a little trepidation. The Hokage looked sadly at Naruto, and Naruto was beginning to get a sense of dread in his stomach.

"those, are Iwa's latest technological advancement. Our spies call them tanks, but what they really are, well they are actually armored siege machines, capable of taking down whole platoons of ninja with little to no damage taken upon themselves. It protects the crew, and has enough firepower to challenge a Kage in single combat. This threat is growing, every village is developing their own response to this threat, and we are asking you to be our solution."the Hokage explained. Now, there was no amusement in his voice, only a tiredness that only comes to a man that knows he could be ruining a mans life.

Naruto for his part was shocked. These machines, that could stop armies and roll through villages, and the Hokage was asking him, the dead last of the academy, to counter this threat? And yet, through the fear, he couldn't help but feel like this was something he shouldn't turn down, that maybe this was what he was meant to do, to move beyond the common ninja. Steeling himself, he looked the leader of the village straight in the eye, determination almost visible in his eyes.

"what would you have me do?" he said confidently. The Hokage just stared at him for a second, while Ibiki was actually grinning, making his face even more frightful.

"what we are going to do," Ibiki began "is turn you into a walking tank. We will give you armor, technology, and firepower, to show the world that the ninja will change, but will never fade away." now Naruto was grinning too, the speech was flowing through his veins, empowering him with each word.

"You will be unique. The First Anti Tank Ninja, and you inspire others in your wake." Ibiki continued. "You will answer directly to me, or the Hokage. Our orders surpass any others you may receive, including your sensei, but the Hokages orders surpass mine. When walking in public you will wear your uniform, as a morale boost to the civilians and ninja, inspiring more to join the program. You will not be alone for long, as others will join you shortly. Just prove that what we are doing isn't a waste of resources."

"I will justify this faith you put into me," Naruto said with conviction. "I will make you proud Old Man, and you as well Captain Ibiki!" Naruto executed a perfect military salute, a half ram seal at chest level, eyes forward, back straight. The Hokage only gave a tired grin, and said "at ease Naruto."

Naruto relaxed, but remained standing, proud to be in his, in all but blood, Grand Fathers service. The old man sighed, and looked at Naruto once more, seriousness in his face.

"there's... one more matter we need to discuss." he said finally. "it's come time for you to learn why you are an asset to the village, and why the general populace seems to dislike you so much." at this, Naruto stopped grinning. His life had been hard from the first day, little food, no affection, no attention. It had almost broke Naruto, if not for the Hokage, Ibiki, and the Ramen Bar down the street. He had always asked the Hokage why, but he had never received a straight answer. But now he was getting one.

"Naruto, you have the Kyuubi's spirit and chakra sealed inside of you." he said, looking closely at Naruto. " the Fourth Hokage sealed it in you when you were born to protect this village. A descision I assure you he did not make lightly." and Naruto's world cracked.

"...your serious? This isn't a trick?" he finally spoke, his voice cracking. "no, it's not a trick. You wouldn't do that to me. And it explains everything. Old man, how should I feel about this?" he asked, his voice not quite breaking. Of all the things it could have been, a malevolent spirit in his gut was the last thing he would have thought of. He wanted to scream, to cry, to laugh. He was overwhelmed with emotion, and the only indication anything was wrong on the outside was the fact that he was trembling slightly with each breath.

" feel what ever is strongest Naruto." the old man told him gently. And Naruto began to laugh and cry. "it all makes sense now!" He shouted, laughing just a little harder as tears went down his face. "all the anger, hatred in their eyes, it all makes sense now! And now that I know what it is," he calmed down now, a small, sad smile on his face, "and I feel better about it all now. It wasn't my fault. My parents didn't do anything either. I'm free of guilt!"

The Hokage could only stare. Of all the ways Naruto could have reacted, this wasn't what he expected. He looked over to Ibiki, who was now wearing a proud smile. " Of course it's not your fault Naruto. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I just wanted you to live without the knowledge of your burden, you were suffering enough as it was."

"I understand old man." Naruto said, a smile on his face again. "you've always done right by me." but then he frowned. "What happened to Mizuki?"

Ibiki stepped forward. "once we caught wind of his plan he was picked up and taken into custody. We had already selected you for this project beforehand, and we can't afford to have anybody interfere with that. So for all intents and purposes, Mizuki no longer exists." he said this all in a deep, foreboding tone, and Naruto knew that Mizuki was probably dead by now.

"but now, back to the matter at hand." Ibiki said, moving towards the box on the Hokages desk. He reached inside, as pulled out a long coat, almost identical to the coat he wore. " this is your uniform. It's tighter on the torso to prevent restricted movements, and is imbedded with steel mesh to prevent bodily harm, as well as pockets to store knives and shuriken." he tossed the jacket to Naruto, who immediately put it on. It was a perfect fit.

"this," Ibiki continued, pulling out an odd tool. "is your shears. These are made special for tearing through metal, so if anything stands in you way be it a tank or a steel wall, you can cut through it easily." to demonstrate, he squeezed the steel support holding in the Hokage window, causing it the warp easily under his strength. He would have cut through completely, but the Hokage made him stop before he damaged his office further.

"Then there is this." he pulled out a device Naruto had never seen before. It was small and cylindrical, with a lever and shutters on it. "This is chakra beacon. When the shutters open it will emit a blue light, allowing you to use it as a lantern, and as a signal for allied forces. The drain on your chakra will be minimal, all it does is light your way." he opened the lantern, and a blue glow filled the room, casting darker than average shadows on Ibiki's face, until he turned the lantern off.

"And finally, we have this." and he hefted something out of the box that made Naruto drop his jaw in awe. It was mainly cylindrical, with a hole on one end and a grip on the other. It was massive, as long as Naruto's forearm.

"This will be your main weapon. While Iwa has developed the tank to change warfare, we have made this. The boys in the lab call it a Pistol, a weapon designed to be fire with one hand. It fires these," Ibiki pulled out a pointed brass object "at the speed of sound or higher. Now, apparently the recoil of this gun is quite difficult to master, so we added the wooden grip in the front just in case. It holds a single round at a time, but it has the power to go through five inches of steel at point-blank range."

Naruto took hold of the gun, pouring over every detail in its design, opening and closing the breach, and looking down the length of the barrel. "this is mine?" asked Naruto, "you're just going to give me all of this as part of a project that might not work?"

"yes." Was the simple answer he got from the Hokage.

"okay." Naruto responded, a not of happiness in his voice. "so now what do I do?"

"now, you go and find Shikamaru, and send him home. It's late, and I think his parents are worried by now. As for you, you go home, and wait for team assignments tomorrow." the aged Kage said, pride in his voice.

* * *

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked Naruto as soon as he stepped outside the tower. "I tried to warn you, but the ANBU blocked the signal."

Naruto just grinned widely at his friend "I was made a ninja!" he said happily.

And as he walked with Shikamaru, all he could think was "_I wouldn't have done this any other way._"

* * *

**So there it is. My first chapter back. What do you think? For those who are curious, Naruto's weapon is based off the Thompson Contender pistol, a seriously baddass gun. Naruto's powers are once again based off Pumpkin Scissors, but it won't really be a crossover. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. Out.**


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